Create a trailer to generate excitement and registrations for a new Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike tournament in the UK. The target audience was competetive 3rd Strike playerts and enthusiasts of the game.
I structured the video to hook the viewer. The stages of the trailer were made to intrigue, excite and then inform.
The opening begins with a black screen, shortly filled with a grid character portraits. I designed it so that each portrait would appear on the beat of the drum.
After the initial montage of character portraits, the video is then followed up with a montage of gameplay taken from previous tournament footage. These clips were chosen for the skills that they displayed as they could generate some hype. This was to show
competetive players that there would be some strong competition in the UK. I would cut each clip with a very rapid flash transition on the snare of the beat.
The final section of the trailer shows footage of the community, overlayed by information of the actual event. This was to display the vibe of the event and really bring showcase how big the community aspect was.
Its a very aggressive jungle/breakcore track that matches the vibe we wanted to give.
I synced every transition to a specific cymbal sound and had information show up during the kicks of the beat. This gave the video energy and flow, which is important to keep the viewer engaged.
As a lot of the old tournament footage were in low quality, I made the decision to convert them to black and white. It made the quality a lot less noticable and also created a sort of nostalgic aesthetic.
The most challenging part of this project was having to seek old footage online. While I did find a lot of footage, I had to then sit through the footage to find which parts would work in my edit. I also had to figure out how to include them without the quality being an issue. I believe I did a good job of covering the quality issues by making it black and white, I also think my clip selection was good enough to convey the feeling I wanted to.
The tournament organiser was very pleased with the final product and its vibe. Unfortunately the event hasn't been announced yet due to issues with the original venue selection so I am unable to see the reaction of the viewers.
Working on this project showed me that constraints can force creative decisions. The video quality issue became an aesthetic choice, and the tight deadlines motivated me to work with intent, and to trust my clip selection. This is also the first time I have worked on any kind of video projects, so the whole process of editing was new and interesting to me.